Disclosed in the embodiments herein is an improved, simple, low cost, process and system for continuous manufacturing imageable seamed belts from sequential portions of a roll fed web transverse a web of suitable width and material, as opposed to an interrupted and/or separate manual operation of forming such belts from lengths of such material in the elongate dimension and direction of movement of such a web.
Heretofore, most of the endless belts for intermediate image transfer belts or photoreceptor belts for xerographic printers have been expensively made as endless belts (without any seam) by individual electroforming or the like, to allow continuous and non-synchronized image formation and/or transport around the entire belt circumference; or, have been seamed belts with seams which cannot be imaged over, thus requiring synchronized seam-skipping skipped-pitch systems, which reduce the effective printing rate. Thus, a long-term goal in this art, as described in some of the references cited below, is to be able to provide a belt which will have the lower manufacturing cost of a seamed belt, yet have a belt seam which can be imaged over substantially as if there were no seam, thus allowing the seamed belt to handle continuously closely spaced non-synchronized images extending around the entire belt circumference like a seamless belt.
A small batch processing method or system of making a seamed belt having a so-called xe2x80x9cpuzzle cutxe2x80x9d seam is to make each belt individually starting with an blank planar sheet of suitable belt material of a suitable length for the desired belt circumference, and to puzzle-cut the opposite ends thereof, one at a time, with an expensive puzzle-cutting die extending across the width of the belt. (Thus, requiring the belt blank to be aligned twice with this elongated die.) This small batch processing method is not suitable for large scale low cost manufacturing.
In contrast, in the disclosed embodiment herein, for production of multiple such belts in a continuous and more automatic manner at lower cost, a continuous web of material having a width slightly wider that the desired length or circumference of the finished belt may be roll fed and continuously simultaneous puzzle-cut on both opposing edges by much smaller, and stationary, laser (or rotary mechanical) puzzle-cutting stations in correspondence or coordination, and those opposing edges of the belt automatically brought together with their puzzle-cuts mating (interdigitated) together and cemented and coated or otherwise treated, and the resulting belts cut (before or after) to their desired width with intermittent operation of a simple linear transverse or circumferential laser or mechanical cutting or chopping system, which may also be a laser cutter.
To express this in other words, in the disclosed embodiment a large number of seamed belts may be continuously automatically produced from a continuously fed web of suitable supply material that is at least as wide as the finished belt loop must be long, so that the puzzle-cutting may be done continuously along the edges of the supply web as the supply web advances, rather than in intermittent full width transverse puzzle-cuts. This embodiment also allows the use of small fixed station high power laser puzzle-cutting systems needing only small movements of cutting laser beams in the edge areas of the continuously moving belt blank to form the puzzle-cut pattern on each side of a steadily moving web of belt material.
By way of background on imageable seamed belts, for intermediate image transfer belts or photoreceptor (PR) belts, for xerographic printers, and especially such seamed belts having so-called xe2x80x9cpuzzle cutxe2x80x9d seams, and suitable materials therefor, there is noted, for example: Xerox Corp U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,707, by Lucille M. Sharf, et al., filed Aug. 29, 1994 and issued Jan. 30, 1996 entitled xe2x80x9cPuzzle Cut Seamed Belt With Bonding Between Adjacent Surface By UV Cured Adhesivexe2x80x9d; Xerox Corp U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,436 by Edward L. Schlueter, Jr., issued May 7, 1996, entitled xe2x80x9cPuzzle Cut Seamed Beltxe2x80x9d; Xerox Corp. U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,193, issued Aug. 27, 1996, entitled xe2x80x9cEndless Seamed Belt with Low Thickness Differential Between the Seam and the Rest of the Beltxe2x80x9d; Xerox Corp U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,974, issued Dec. 7, 1999, by Ed Schlueter, et al., the EPO foreign equivalent application of which was published on Mar. 31, 1999 as EPO Publication No. 905570; Xerox Corp pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/721,418 filed Sep. 26, 1996 as and Xerox Corp pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/004,636 filed Jan. 8, 1998 by Robert C. U. Yu, as for which the EPO equivalent was published Jul. 14, 1999 as EPO Publication No. 928907. Other, additional, Xerox Corp. patent applications on suitable such belt materials and properties are being filed contemporaneously herewith.
Although the present system is particularly suited for manufacturing such imageable seam belts for printers, especially, intermediate image transfer belts for electrophotographic printing systems, it is not limited thereto.
Further by way of background as to intermediate image transfer belts for electrophotographic printing systems, in operation, an intermediate transfer belt is typically brought into contact with a toner image-bearing member such as a photoreceptor belt with a previously exposed and developed latent image. In the contact zone an electrostatic field generating device such as a corotron, a bias transfer roller, a bias blade, or the like, creates electrostatic fields that transfer each toner image onto the intermediate transfer belt, which moves to carry that toner image on the intermediate transfer belt over into contact with a receiver, such as a copy sheet or other image substrate. A similar electrostatic field generating device may then transfers the toner image from the intermediate transfer belt to the receiver. Depending on the system, a receiver can be another intermediate transfer member or the image substrate onto which the toner will eventually be fixed. In either case the control of the electrostatic fields in and near the transfer zone is a significant factor in toner transfer.
As shown in the above-cited and other art, intermediate transfer belts may take the form of seamed belts fabricated by fastening two ends of a web material together, such as by welding, sewing, wiring, stapling, or gluing. While seamless intermediate transfer belts are also possible, they require manufacturing processes that make them much more expensive than similar seamed intermediate transfer belts. This is particularly true when the intermediate transfer belt is relatively long. While seamed intermediate transfer belts are relatively lower in cost, the seam introduces a discontinuity that interferes with the electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties of the belt. While it is possible to synchronize a printer""s operation with the motion of the intermediate transfer belt such that toner is not electrostatically transferred onto the seam, such synchronization adds to the printer""s expense and complexity, and results in loss of productivity. Additionally, since some high speed electrophotographic printers produce images on paper sheets that are then cut from a continuous paper xe2x80x9cweb,xe2x80x9d if a belt seam must be avoided, the resulting unused portion of the paper web may have to be cut out, producing paper waste. Furthermore, even with synchronization, mechanical problems related to the discontinuity, such as excessive cleaner wear and/or mechanical vibrations, may still exist.
Acceptable intermediate transfer belts require sufficient seam strength to achieve a desired operating life. While the desired operating life depends on the specific application, typically it will be at least 100,000 operating cycles, and preferably 1,000,000 cycles. Considering that a seamed intermediate transfer belt suffers mechanical stresses from belt tension, traveling over rollers, moving through transfer nips, and passing through cleaning systems, achieving such a long operating life is not trivial. Seam failures can cause part of the belt to lift up at the seam and damage other printer components. Thus the conflicting constraints of long life and limited topographical size at the seam places a premium on adhesive strength and good seam construction.
A xe2x80x9cpuzzle cutxe2x80x9d approach to seamed intermediate transfer belts, such as taught in the above-cited and other prior art references, significantly reduces mechanical problems by producing an improved mechanical seam. Those references also discuss other difficulties in manufacturing a suitable belt for transferring toner images without visible defects onto and off of a seam of a seamed intermediate transfer belt, especially, suitable electrical properties.
A specific feature of the specific embodiment(s) disclosed herein is to provide an improved method of manufacturing large quantities of seamed belts with imageable seams for printing systems, wherein said seamed belts have a predetermined defined circumference and a predetermined width, from a predetermined belt material available in a large roll thereof, comprising: feeding a continuous web of said belt material from said large roll in a defined web width that is at least as wide as said predetermined defined circumference of said seamed belts, feeding said continuous web of said defined width belt material to a seam cutting station, cutting in said seam cutting station the opposing side edges of said continuous web of belt material into opposing seam-forming mating edge patterns, wrapping said opposing side edges of said continuous web of belt material together on a mandrel surface while said continuous web of belt material is moving, mating said opposing mating edge patterns together to form a belt seam in a moving tube of said continuous web of belt material, adhesively sealing said belt seam, and sequentially intermittently transversely cutting off increments of said moving tube of said continuous web of belt material to said predetermined width of said seamed belt to form said seamed belts with said predetermined defined circumference and said predetermined width.
Further specific features disclosed herein, individually or in combination, include those wherein said continuous web is moved through said seam cutting station continuously or in incremental steps; and/or wherein said seam cutting station comprises laser cutting systems on said opposing side edges of said continuous web of belt material; and/or wherein said seam cutting station comprises laser cutting systems on said opposing side edges of said continuous web of belt material operating to cut mating puzzle-cut locking seam patterns on said opposing side edges of said continuous web of belt material.
Another disclosed feature is an improved system for manufacturing large quantities of seamed belts with imageable seams for printing systems, wherein said manufactured seamed belts have a predetermined defined circumference and a predetermined width, from a belt material which is available in a large continuous web roll with opposing side edges, comprising: a seam cutting station, a web feeding system for feeding a continuous web of said belt material from said large roll to said seam cutting station in a defined web width between said opposing side edges that is at least as wide as said predetermined defined circumference of said seamed belts, said seam cutting station cutting said opposing side edges of said continuous web of belt material into opposing seam-forming mating edge patterns, a web wrapping system including a mandrel surface for wrapping said opposing side edges of said continuous web of belt material together on said mandrel surface while said continuous web of belt material is moving thereon, a seam mating system for mating said opposing mating edge patterns together to form a belt seam in a moving tube of said continuous web of belt material, an adhesive applicator system for adhesively sealing said moving belt seam, and a web tube cutting system for sequentially intermittently transversely cutting off increments of said moving tube of said continuous web of belt material to said predetermined width of said seamed belt; and/or wherein said seam cutting station comprises laser cutting systems on said opposing side edges of said continuous web of belt material operating to cut mating puzzle-cut locking seam patterns on said opposing side edges of said continuous web of belt material.
As to specific components of the subject apparatus, or alternatives therefor, it will be appreciated that, as is normally the case, some such components are known per se in other apparatus or applications which may be additionally or alternatively used herein, including those from art cited herein. All references cited in this specification, and their references, are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features, and/or technical background. What is well known to those skilled in the art need not be described here.